MICHAEL VAN GERWEN created history by becoming only the second player ever to achieve TWO nine-dart finishes in the same game on his way to victory in Coral UK Open Qualifier Four at the Robin Park Tennis Centre in Wigan on Friday.
The Dutchman recorded the remarkable feat of two nine-darters during his third round win over Ryan Murray in Wigan in a magical ten-minute spell.
The World Champion firstly scored 180, 177 and finished 144 in the fourth leg to complete his first nine-darter, before sealing a 6-2 victory with another perfect leg as he scored 177, 180 and took out 144 once again to complete the historic achievement.
Van Gerwen's moments of genius make him only the second player in history to hit two nine-darters in one game, with Phil Taylor previously achieving the feat in the 2010 Premier League final against James Wade.
However, the Dutchman wasn't done there as he then raced through the field in Wigan by destroying Ting Chi Royden Lam, Zoran Lerchbacher, Peter Wright and Kevin Painter to set up a showdown with nemesis Gary Anderson in the final.
Earlier this month, Anderson brought an end to Van Gerwen's 32-game winning streak as they drew on the opening night of the Betway Premier League, and this game started in an equally cagey manner with little to separate the world's top two.
Van Gerwen's dominance quickly came to fruition, however, as he raced into a 5-2 lead - leaving Anderson the steep task of winning all four remaining legs for victory. Despite Anderson pulling back one leg, Van Gerwen comfortably picked up the remaining leg needed to clinch the £10,000 top prize.
"Something clicked after I survived match darts against Adam Hunt and I could feel I might do something special today," said Van Gerwen.
"I'm very proud to achieve this but I'm also experienced enough to know that it's only two legs, so it was great to go on and win the tournament too."
Nevertheless, it wasn't all plain sailing for the Dutchman, who had survived two missed match darts by two-time Challenge Tour winner Adam Hunt in the second round as he stumbled to an early 6-5 victory.
Two-time World Champion Anderson enjoyed an equally dominant day, beating Paul Rowley 6-4 in his opening match before whitewashing Ryan Harrington 6-0 to reach the last 32.
There he brushed aside Justin Pipe, Rob Cross and mentee Chris Dobey - dropping just six legs in the process - as he reached the semi-finals.
Standing in his way of the final was two-time Challenge Tour winner Ryan Searle, enjoying a sparkling run himself with victories over Jamie Caven, Darren Webster and Dave Chisnall. Anderson proved too strong, however, racing to a 6-1 victory.
Painter's run to the semi-finals, his first run to the last four since July 2014, also included some very impressive scalps.
The former Players Champion defeated Dean Stewart and Antonio Alcinas to reach his board final, where he edged out Daryl Gurney 6-5.
In the last 32, Painter then saw off Terry Jenkins and five-time World Champion Raymond van Barneveld and produced a stunning come-from-behind victory against Michael Smith before falling to Van Gerwen in the final four.
Searle's semi-final appearance was his best since joining the PDC circuit on a full-time basis this year, having secured a PDC Tour Card with his PDC Unicorn Challenge Tour success in 2016, and he will now make his Coral UK Open debut in the ITV4-televised event from March 3-5.
Wright, who won two of the opening three Coral UK Open Qualifiers last weekend, had another good day as he maintained his lead at the top of the UK Open Order of Merit - beating John Part, Nick Fullwell, Ronnie Baxter and Gerwyn Price before losing out to Van Gerwen in the quarter-finals.
It was the second time in as many days that Wright lost out to the Dutchman, following his 7-3 defeat in the Premier League in Nottingham on Thursday.
St Helens pair Dave Chisnall and Michael Smith joined emerging youngster Dobey in the last eight in the first of the weekend's final three UK Open Qualifiers.
The £60,000 Coral UK Open Qualifiers continue on Saturday with Qualifier Five before the final day of action on Sunday February 12 with Qualifier Six. Live online coverage of each event is available at www.livepdc.tv and a series of bookmakers' websites, with two live streams available throughout the tournaments.
Full results from UK Open Qualifier Four can be found below:
Click below to see Michael van Gerwen's two nine-dart finishes
Coral UK Open Qualifier Four
Friday February 10
Preliminary Round
Dirk van Duijvenbode 6-1 Stuart Kellett
Devon Petersen 6-0 Scott Taylor
Barrie Bates 6-5 Callan Rydz
Vincent Kamphuis 6-5 Sean Ryan
First Round
Alan Norris Bye
Jack Todd 6-5 Wes Newton
Dylan Duo 6-5 Steve Douglas
Steve Lennon 6-5 Michael Barnard
Stephen Bunting Bye
Andy Jenkins 6-5 Ron Meulenkamp
Wayne Jones 6-3 Jonny Clayton
Dimitri Van den Bergh 6-5 Yuki Yamada
Dave Chisnall Bye
Gary Stone 6-2 Tony Newell
James Young 6-4 Michael Huntley
Dennis Smith 6-5 Allan Candlish
Simon Whitlock Bye
Adam Smith-Neale 6-1 Simon Cassidy
Mike De Decker 6-1 Shaun Griffiths
Rob Hewson 6-2 Ross Twell
Joe Cullen Bye
Ricky Evans 6-3 John Michael
Jim Brown 6-3 Derek Brand
Ricky Williams 6-1 Steve Brown
Darren Webster Bye
Greg Ritchie 6-4 Stephen Burton
John Crossley 6-5 James Hadjar
Dirk van Duijvenbode 6-2 Wilco Vermeulen
Jelle Klaasen Bye
Terry Temple 6-1 Richie Burnett
Chris Quantock 6-5 Matt Clark
Scott Dale 6-5 Keegan Brown
Jamie Caven Bye
Ryan Searle 6-5 Matthew Edgar
Charlie Jackson 6-4 Jimmy Hendriks
Andy Boulton 6-1 Martyn Turner
Mark Webster Bye
Kevin Dowling 6-3 Alan Tabern
Michael Rasztovits 6-2 Robert Owen
Mareno Michels 6-4 Adrian Gray
Steve Beaton Bye
Rob Cross 6-5 David Pallett
Eddie Dootson 6-4 Justin Smith
Kirk Shepherd 6-3 Martin Thomas
Justin Pipe Bye
Mark Forman 6-3 Jason Wilson
Max Hopp 6-4 Jeff Batham
Barry Lynn 6-4 Richard North
Gary Anderson Bye
Paul Rowley 6-3 Luke Woodhouse
Ryan Harrington 6-5 Dyson Parody
Prakash Jiwa 6-3 Andy Hamilton
Brendan Dolan Bye
Jonathan Worsley 6-1 Eikichi Nakanishi
Jeffrey de Zwaan 6-2 Kurt Parry
Matt Padgett 6-5 Kelvin Hart
Mervyn King Bye
Kevin McDine 6-3 Sven Groen
Ben Ward 6-5 Billy Holmes
Colin Roelofs 6-2 Andreas Hajimina
Jamie Lewis Bye
Callum Loose 6-3 Andy Parsons
Chris Dobey 6-3 Madars Razma
Nathan Derry 6-5 Devon Petersen
Andrew Gilding Bye
Berry van Peer 6-2 Mark Walsh
James Wilson 6-1 Mark Stephenson
Barrie Bates 6-2 Darron Brown
John Henderson Bye
Bryan De Hoog 6-3 Paul Milford
Peter Hudson 6-4 Rene Eidams
Vincent Kamphuis 6-1 Jim Walker
Raymond van Barneveld Bye
Cristo Reyes 6-0 Jerry Hendriks
Rowby-John Rodriguez 6-0 Shane Reidy
Richie Corner 6-3 Mick Todd
Daryl Gurney Bye
Willy van de Wiel 6-4 Jim Moston
Kevin Painter 6-1 Dean Stewart
Antonio Alcinas 6-4 Ryan De Vreede
Terry Jenkins Bye
Mick McGowan 6-1 Par Riihonen
William O'Connor 6-5 Harry Ward
Robbie Green 6-4 Luke Humphries
Robert Thornton Bye
Ryan Meikle 6-3 Terry Roach
Craig Gilchrist 6-3 Josh Payne
Jeffrey de Graaf 6-2 Sheamus Hagan
Benito van de Pas Bye
Ian Lever 6-2 Matthew Dennant
Brian Woods 6-4 Dawson Muschell
Simon Stevenson 6-1 Mark Westgarth
Michael Smith Bye
Ted Evetts 6-4 John Brown
Nigel Pinchen 6-1 Roger Scrivens
Ritchie Edhouse 6-3 Lee Bryant
Kim Huybrechts Bye
Diogo Portela 6-5 Jay Foreman
Kai Fan Leung 6-0 Ronny Huybrechts
Curtis Hammond 6-0 Ray Campbell
Michael van Gerwen Bye
Adam Hunt 6-3 Andrew Johnson
Ryan Murray 6-3 Sam Head
Maik Langendorf 6-3 Richard Baillie
Vincent van der Voort Bye
Nathan Aspinall 6-1 Aden Kirk
Ting Chi Royden Lam 6-1 Joshua Richardson
Paul Nicholson 6-1 Bradley Brooks
Ian White Bye
Martin Schindler 6-1 Mark Hylton
Darren Johnson 6-3 Mario Robbe
Steve West 6-4 Ryan Palmer
Adrian Lewis Bye
Coni Singh Nagi 6-4 Paul Reeve
Michael Burgoine 6-4 Mark Frost
Zoran Lerchbacher 6-2 Roxy-James Rodriguez
Gerwyn Price Bye
John Bowles 6-4 James Richardson
Jan Dekker 6-1 Steve McNally
Yordi Meeuwisse 6-1 Martin Lukeman
James Wade Bye
Joe Murnan 6-5 Jamie Bain
Ricky Sudale 6-0 Rohit Rabadia
Christian Kist 6-2 Mark Dudbridge
Kyle Anderson Bye
Jermaine Wattimena 6-2 Nigel Daniels
James Lane 6-4 James Hubbard
Ronnie Baxter 6-2 Dave Ladley
Peter Wright Bye
John Part 6-1 Joe Davis
Nick Fullwell 6-4 Arron Monk
Jon Jukes 6-4 Alan Tabern Jnr
Second Round
Alan Norris 6-4 Jack Todd
Steve Lennon 6-1 Dylan Duo
Andy Jenkins 6-4 Stephen Bunting
Wayne Jones 6-5 Dimitri Van den Bergh
Dave Chisnall 6-3 Gary Stone
James Young 6-4 Dennis Smith
Simon Whitlock 6-3 Adam Smith-Neale
Rob Hewson 6-2 Mike De Decker
Ricky Evans 6-3 Joe Cullen
Ricky Williams 6-3 Jim Brown
Darren Webster 6-5 Greg Ritchie
Dirk van Duijvenbode 6-3 John Crossley
Terry Temple 6-4 Jelle Klaasen
Chris Quantock 6-2 Scott Dale
Ryan Searle 6-3 Jamie Caven
Andy Boulton 6-4 Charlie Jackson
Mark Webster 6-1 Kevin Dowling
Mareno Michels 6-4 Michael Rasztovits
Rob Cross 6-3 Steve Beaton
Eddie Dootson 6-1 Kirk Shepherd
Justin Pipe 6-5 Mark Forman
Max Hopp 6-4 Barry Lynn
Gary Anderson 6-4 Paul Rowley
Ryan Harrington 6-4 Prakash Jiwa
Jonathan Worsley 6-2 Brendan Dolan
Jeffrey de Zwaan 6-3 Matt Padgett
Mervyn King 6-3 Kevin McDine
Colin Roelofs 6-1 Ben Ward
Callum Loose 6-2 Jamie Lewis
Chris Dobey 6-2 Nathan Derry
Andrew Gilding 6-1 Berry van Peer
Barrie Bates 6-4 James Wilson
John Henderson 6-3 Bryan De Hoog
Vincent Kamphuis 6-4 Peter Hudson
Raymond van Barneveld 6-2 Cristo Reyes
Rowby-John Rodriguez 6-5 Richie Corner
Daryl Gurney 6-4 Willy van de Wiel
Kevin Painter 6-3 Antonio Alcinas
Terry Jenkins 6-3 Mick McGowan
William O'Connor 6-5 Robbie Green
Robert Thornton 6-2 Ryan Meikle
Jeffrey de Graaf 6-1 Craig Gilchrist
Benito van de Pas 6-1 Ian Lever
Simon Stevenson 6-3 Brian Woods
Michael Smith 6-2 Ted Evetts
Ritchie Edhouse 6-3 Nigel Pinchen
Kim Huybrechts 6-5 Diogo Portela
Curtis Hammond 6-2 Kai Fan Leung
Michael van Gerwen 6-5 Adam Hunt
Ryan Murray 6-4 Maik Langendorf
Nathan Aspinall 6-4 Vincent van der Voort
Ting Chi Royden Lam 6-3 Paul Nicholson
Ian White 6-3 Martin Schindler
Darren Johnson 6-3 Steve West
Adrian Lewis 6-2 Coni Singh Nagi
Zoran Lerchbacher 6-0 Michael Burgoine
Gerwyn Price 6-4 John Bowles
Yordi Meeuwisse 6-5 Jan Dekker
James Wade 6-1 Joe Murnan
Christian Kist 6-5 Ricky Sudale
Jermaine Wattimena 6-4 Kyle Anderson
Ronnie Baxter 6-1 James Lane
Peter Wright 6-3 John Part
Nick Fullwell 6-2 Jon Jukes
Third Round
Steve Lennon 6-5 Alan Norris
Andy Jenkins 6-5 Wayne Jones
Dave Chisnall 6-1 James Young
Rob Hewson 6-2 Simon Whitlock
Ricky Evans 6-1 Ricky Williams
Darren Webster 6-5 Dirk van Duijvenbode
Chris Quantock 6-5 Terry Temple
Ryan Searle 6-3 Andy Boulton
Mark Webster 6-0 Mareno Michels
Rob Cross 6-3 Eddie Dootson
Justin Pipe 6-4 Max Hopp
Gary Anderson 6-0 Ryan Harrington
Jeffrey de Zwaan 6-1 Jonathan Worsley
Mervyn King 6-3 Colin Roelofs
Chris Dobey 6-3 Callum Loose
Barrie Bates 6-5 Andrew Gilding
Vincent Kamphuis 6-2 John Henderson
Raymond van Barneveld 6-3 Rowby-John Rodriguez
Kevin Painter 6-5 Daryl Gurney
Terry Jenkins 6-3 William O'Connor
Jeffrey de Graaf 6-3 Robert Thornton
Benito van de Pas 6-3 Simon Stevenson
Michael Smith 6-5 Ritchie Edhouse
Kim Huybrechts 6-3 Curtis Hammond
Michael van Gerwen 6-2 Ryan Murray - Michael van Gerwen hits two nine-dart finishes
Ting Chi Royden Lam 6-4 Nathan Aspinall
Darren Johnson 6-5 Ian White
Zoran Lerchbacher 6-4 Adrian Lewis
Gerwyn Price 6-4 Yordi Meeuwisse
Christian Kist 6-5 James Wade
Ronnie Baxter 6-5 Jermaine Wattimena
Peter Wright 6-2 Nick Fullwell
Fourth Round
Andy Jenkins 6-1 Steve Lennon
Dave Chisnall 6-0 Rob Hewson
Darren Webster 6-4 Ricky Evans
Ryan Searle 6-2 Chris Quantock
Rob Cross 6-5 Mark Webster
Gary Anderson 6-3 Justin Pipe
Mervyn King 6-2 Jeffrey de Zwaan
Chris Dobey 6-2 Barrie Bates
Raymond van Barneveld 6-1 Vincent Kamphuis
Kevin Painter 6-4 Terry Jenkins
Jeffrey de Graaf 6-5 Benito van de Pas
Michael Smith 6-1 Kim Huybrechts
Michael van Gerwen 6-2 Ting Chi Royden Lam
Zoran Lerchbacher 6-2 Darren Johnson
Gerwyn Price 6-5 Christian Kist
Peter Wright 6-1 Ronnie Baxter
Fifth Round
Dave Chisnall 6-3 Andy Jenkins
Ryan Searle 6-4 Darren Webster
Gary Anderson 6-1 Rob Cross
Chris Dobey 6-4 Mervyn King
Kevin Painter 6-4 Raymond van Barneveld
Michael Smith 6-4 Jeffrey de Graaf
Michael van Gerwen 6-1 Zoran Lerchbacher
Peter Wright 6-3 Gerwyn Price
Quarter-Finals
Ryan Searle 6-3 Dave Chisnall
Gary Anderson 6-2 Chris Dobey
Kevin Painter 6-4 Michael Smith
Michael van Gerwen 6-3 Peter Wright
Semi-Finals
Gary Anderson 6-1 Ryan Searle
Michael van Gerwen 6-2 Kevin Painter
Final
Michael van Gerwen 6-3 Gary Anderson